


Long Time Coming

by snarky_saxophonist



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 08:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13807665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarky_saxophonist/pseuds/snarky_saxophonist
Summary: A truth or dare games leads to more for Kris and Anthony.





	Long Time Coming

**Author's Note:**

> I promised this to Iza months ago, when I wrote Moments of Love, and I said I'd have it done before spring training. But I am a terrible person and also my computer died halfway through writing this, so that didn't end up happening. At least it's before spring training ends?
> 
> As always, if you or someone you know personally is tagged in this, please hit the back button right now. This is a work of fiction and is not meant to be a real representation of these people.

“Got any twos?” Rizzo asks Fowler, sighing as he leans back in his chair.

“Go fish,” Dex replies listlessly. He stretches out his legs under the card table they’d set up, setting his hand down to take a drink from his water bottle. “Any news on when we’ll get to play tonight?”

“Nope, I just asked,” Coghlan says from where he’d just come back into the room. “Looks like we’re stuck here for awhile longer.”

“Ugh,” Rizzo rolls his eyes, dropping his cards on the table and flopping dramatically on the floor. “Fuck this rain, I want to play baseball or go home.”

“Don’t we all,” Rossy grumbles, punching his hand into the pocket of his glove. He’s sitting with Lackey, who was supposed to be starting tonight.

“Does anybody know a more interesting game than Go Fish, other than poker?” Dex asks, sweeping the cards up into a pile. 

“Yeah, baseball,” Rizzo shoots back.

“Ehh, I think you mean hockey,” Hendricks puts in.

“What are you, Canadian? It’s clearly football,” Arrieta stares down Hendricks, who just shakes his head in amusement. At least, Kris thinks it’s amusement. Kyle’s always a tough guy to read. 

“Guys, have you forgotten that we’re literally professional baseball players?” Dex raises his eyebrows judgmentally, tugging playfully at Arrieta’s beard.

“Hey, man, not the beard!” Arrieta smacks Dex’s hand away from his face. “It’s bad luck to touch the beard!”

“My deepest apologies,” Dex says sarcastically, reaching out as if to touch the beard again. He breaks out into a bright smile, laughing as Jake yelps and jumps away, clapping his hands over the beard.

“Alright, guys, they called it. Go home,” Martinez, their bench coach, sticks his head into the locker room, raising an eyebrow as he sees Jake. 

“They postponed it? Please, please tell me we’re not supposed to make it up tomorrow,” Lester says. They’re supposed to have an off day tomorrow, and if a free Saturday in July gets canceled, none of them are going to be happy.

“Nope, Pirates have a game tomorrow and we see them a lot, so it’ll be a doubleheader at some point later in the season,” Martinez tells them. “Practice is optional tomorrow, so go have some fun. See you all later.”

A whoop goes through the locker room, and guys immediately start changing back into their street clothes. 

“Who wants to come back to my place? I have alcohol and video games,” Anthony says.

“Hell yeah,” Dex agrees. 

“Who else is in?” Anthony asks.

“I am,” Kris says. 

“Well duh you are,” Anthony rolls his eyes. “That wasn’t even an option for you to not.”

“Me too,” Javy says. There are agreements from Ross, Lester, and CJ as well, and Heyward offers to bring a few cases of beer. The rest of the team begs off to spend the night with their families or get some rest.

 

“Why is this game so hard,” Anthony grouses an hour later after Dex has creamed him at Call of Duty yet again. Everyone but Kris is at least a few drinks in, and Anthony’s coordination has suffered noticeably. 

“Maybe it’s time to call it a night for video games,” Lester suggests, amused.

“Then what are we supposed to do now?” Anthony complains.

“We could play truth or dare,” Ross offers, eliciting a round of raised eyebrows.

“Are we in middle school?” Heyward asks.

“I mean, Rizz is for certain a middle schooler,” Ross says dryly. “But it can be fun, especially if everyone but Kris is a little tipsy. He’ll probably be boring, as per usual.”

“Hey!” Kris protests. “I’m not boring!”

“Of course you’re not,” Anthony says indulgently, patting Kris on the arm. “Let’s play! Rossy, you start.”

“Alright, Lester, truth or dare?” Rossy asks. 

“Dare, as long, as it doesn’t involve me doing anything that might jeopardize my pitching arm,” Lester says.

“What the hell do you take me for?” Rossy smacks Lester – on his right arm, of course. “I’m your catcher, I’m not going to jeopardize your arm. I dare you to call Joe and tell him that you want to meet with him at the park at 5 AM tomorrow to talk about your next start.”

“That’s it?” Jon shakes his head condescendingly, pulling out his phone.

“Put it on speaker,” Dex orders as the phone rings. Jon obliges, and they all go quiet as Joe picks up.

“What can I do for you, Jon?” Joe asks.

“I know we have an off day tomorrow, but there were a few things I wanted to talk to you about,” Jon says. “Do you think you could meet me at Wrigley at five to go over them?”

There’s a long pause as Joe digests his words. “Five…in the morning?”

“Yeah,” Jon says earnestly. “Or does that not work for you?”

“Um, I mean, if you have plans tomorrow and that’s the only time that works, I guess I could,” Joe says. “You sure that it couldn’t wait until the day after?”

“No, it has to be tomorrow,” Jon replies.

“Alright, I guess I’ll see you then,” Joe says. “Have a good night, Jon.”

“You too,” Jon says, ending the call. “That was nothing, Rossy. Try to think of a good one next time, huh?”

“Well, now you have to go to the park at the crack of dawn and talk to Joe about some urgent matter that doesn’t exist,” Rossy points out. 

“Have fun with that,” Heyward grins. Jon glares at them for a beat, then focuses his gaze on Rizzo.

“Truth or dare?” 

“Dare, obviously,” Rizzo says cockily, raising his eyebrows.

“Kiss the hottest guy here,” Jon dares him.

“Oh, like that’s such a hardship for me,” Anthony laughs. “I’d say no homo, Kris, but, well… You know me. There’s always a little homo.”

The team laughs as Anthony gets up and heads over to Kris, but there’s an awkward moment of hesitation from everybody but Ross, Lester, and Dex.

“Hold up, did you just come out to us?” CJ asks warily.

“Only if you guys were too oblivious to notice before,” Anthony says. “I haven’t exactly made a secret of it. Do you not remember me going on yesterday about how hot Chris Pine is?”

“Well, yeah, but everyone knows Chris Pine is hot,” Javy shrugs. Anthony sits down next to Kris, waiting before continuing their game. Kris looks at Anthony in surprise. He’d never guessed before that Anthony might be anything but straight, had figured that Anthony’s comments about men were just because he was very secure in himself.

Anthony throws up his hands in despair. “I literally said that I would sleep with him!”

“Everyone has at least one guy they’d make an exception for,” Dex agrees. “For example, I’m sure Kris is that guy for a lot of people.”

“It’s the eyes,” Anthony concurs. “He’s just too pretty for anybody to resist. Speaking of, are we going to discuss my attraction to guys any further, or can we get on with the game?”

“Get on with it, already,” Lester says, nodding at Kris. “God, I can’t believe none of you put the pieces together before now.”

“Wait, you already knew?” CJ demands.

“He came out to me years ago, back in Boston. Rossy put it together his first couple of weeks here,” Lester tells them.

“I knew, too,” Dex adds. “Really, it was pretty obvious. Apparently none of you chuckleheads have eyes or ears.”

“Except for Kris,” Javy says, raising his eyebrows suggestively. “We all know he’s got eyes, and beautiful ones at that.”

“Can we just get on with this already?” Anthony asks, doing his best to sound exasperated, but smiling broadly. 

“Yeah, yeah, go on,” CJ waves him on.

“You good with this, Kris?” Anthony checks before going in.

“It’s truth or dare, Rizz, it’s fine,” Kris says, pushing down the small spark of hope in his gut.

He wants Rizzo to want to kiss him for real, not just as part of a dumb game. Even though Rizzo isn’t straight, he knows that there isn’t any chance. All of the gay guys he’s known before have had strict policies against dating their teammates, so as to not make things awkward in the locker room. Kris had the same policy, too, but he’s gradually fallen in love with Rizzo, and much as he’s tried, he can’t seem to go back.

Anthony disrupts his musings by planting an exaggerated kiss on Kris’s mouth, pulling back thankfully before Kris can do anything to embarrass himself.

“That good enough for you, Jonny?” He asks. Kris holds still, trying to calm his racing heart before anybody else notices. 

“Yeah, yeah, you fulfilled the dare,” Jon says, propping his legs up on the coffee table.

“CJ, I dare you to go get us another bottle of vodka from the kitchen,” Anthony says, seemingly uncaring that he’s wasting his dare on something stupid.

“You didn’t even ask me if I wanted to do truth or dare!” CJ complains, but gets up to head to the kitchen. He comes back a moment later with the alcohol, pouring a generous amount in everyone’s glasses. “To winning the World Series!” he proclaims, lifting his glass in a toast. Everyone echoes him, even Kris, who toasts with his glass of water. 

“Okay, Kris,” CJ says. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Kris replies, eliciting a round of boos.

“See? Like I said, boring,” Rossy says fondly.

“I don’t trust your drunk asses to not do something dumb,” Kris shoots back. “You’d probably dare me to piss off of the roof or some ridiculous stunt like that.”

“Hey, great idea!” CJ says. “But now I gotta think of a question for you for truth. Damn. Alright, who’s your Chris Pine on the team? The one guy you’d sleep with?”

“There’s more than one guy I’d sleep with, considering I’m bisexual,” Kris says dryly, ignoring the reflexive clench of fear in his gut. These guys are his best friends, and they’re fine with Rizzo, so there’s no danger in him coming out.

Sure enough, nobody looks disgusted or upset. Ross grins and holds out a hand to Lester, who sighs and slaps a ten into it.

“Are we playing truth or dare or some sort of coming out game?” Heyward asks. “You didn’t answer the question either, Kris. Who’s the guy on the team you’d most want to sleep with?”

“Oh, that’s easy. Rizzo,” Kris says before he can think better of it. 

“Rizz thinks you’re the hottest guy here, you’d sleep with Rizz, this seems like a match made in heaven,” Dex says with a grin. CJ raises an eyebrow at Kris and Rizz in question.

“Want me to smack him for you?” he asks. 

“I mean, he deserves it, but nah,” Rizzo laughs, taking a sip of his beer. “Let him live this time.”

Kris laughs along with the rest of his teammates, pasting on his best attempt at a smile. He and Rizzo would be a match made in heaven, except for the minor detail that Anthony isn’t interested in him.

They continue their game, the rest of the team getting progressively more drunk as the night goes on. Kris can’t help but be amused by his teammates’ alcohol-induced antics, as most of them are very cuddly drunks. By the time midnight rolls around, Anthony has curled himself entirely into Kris, Lester and Ross have taken over one chair together, and CJ, Heyward, and Javy are all in a pile together on the floor. Dex cut himself off after just a couple of drinks, so he’s claimed a chair by himself and keeps exchanging sympathetic glances with Kris. Kris never minds snuggling with Anthony, but he can’t help but feel a little bitter about it. Anthony gets to be happy and enjoy spending the night together, while Kris has to pine and pretend like he’s not in love with his teammate.

“Mmm, I should get an Uber home,” Lester says eventually, untangling himself from Rossy. “Wanna get sleep, considering I hafta be at Wrigley at the ass crack of dawn tomorrow.” 

Ross just laughs and tells Lester it’s his own fault, but he agrees to split the Uber with him. Kris approves of their environmentally conscious carpooling, and also he’s not entirely sure Lester can make it back on his own. The pitcher’s going to have a hell of a time the next morning, waking up with a hangover to talk to their manager about nothing. 

“I’m going to call it a night too,” CJ says, stretching languidly. “Early plans with my daughter tomorrow.”

Javy and Jason make their excuses as well, and there’s a long moment of silence as they all arrange rides home. Dex and Kris start picking up the empty bottles and cans strewn around the room, doing their best to tidy up after their drunk teammates before heading home for the night.

“I’d walk you out,” Anthony says when the first Uber comes, “except for the fact that I don’t want to.”

“Worst host ever,” Lester announces, fondly cuffing Anthony on the back of the head. 

“Yep,” Anthony agrees unrepentantly, not moving from his spot on the couch. Kris rolls his eyes at his teammate and gets up to say goodbye to their teammates in Anthony’s place. 

Dex hugs him as he prepares to leave, patting Kris on the back a few times. “You should go for it, you know. He’s not going to reject you.”

“What?” Kris asks, but Dex just smiles and walks out, leaving Kris alone with Anthony.

“You headin’ home too?” Anthony asks, finally hauling himself off the couch and hooking his chin over Kris’s shoulder. 

“I probably should,” Kris says reluctantly, leaning back into Anthony.

“Or you could stay,” Anthony suggests. “We coul’ watch a movie or somethin’ fun.”

“You’re really drunk right now,” Kris says. 

“Yeah, so you should take care o’ me an’ make sure I don’t do something stupid,” Anthony says. 

“You’re fine without me,” Kris assures him. “You probably won’t even remember this tomorrow.”

“’M not that drunk!” Anthony protests.

“Yeah, you are,” Kris says, steering Anthony back to the couch. “Go find a show for us to watch and I’ll get you some water so you don’t want up as miserable tomorrow.”

“You’re too good for me,” Anthony says, sprawling out on the couch as Kris heads back to the kitchen. 

“Not good enough to date you, though,” Kris mutters. He’s grabbing a glass out of the cabinet when Anthony puts a hand on his shoulder, making him jump. 

“What’d you say?” Anthony asks, looking far more alert than a moment ago.

“What?” Kris asks, laughing nervously as he fills the glass. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You said something about dating me,” Anthony insists. 

“I was just joking, Rizz,” Kris says, passing Anthony the water glass. Anthony takes it, but doesn’t drink.

“Why?”

“Why what?” Kris asks, walking back out to the couch and waiting for Anthony to follow him.

“Why were you joking?” Anthony asks seriously, staring at Kris.

“Rizz, you’re not making any sense,” Kris says, reaching around Anthony to grab the remote, but Anthony stops him, grabbing his hand.

“I wish you weren’t joking,” Anthony mutters petulantly. Kris’s heart pounds, and he pulls his hand away from Anthony. Rizz doesn’t stop him, but sighs when he does.

“What do you mean by that?” Kris asks.

“You’re more than good enough to date me, and I wish you would,” Anthony replies, and Kris’s heart skips a beat.

“You’re drunk,” he says after a long moment.

“So? That doesn’t change anything,” Anthony says. “I’d want to date you even if I was sober.”

“Tell me that again when you’re actually sober and I might believe you,” Kris says. He can’t let himself hope that Anthony actually means this. He’s been pining for too long to get his hopes up like that.

“What can I do to make you believe me now?” Anthony asks earnestly.

“Drink your water and put on something fun to watch,” Kris says, trying to distract Anthony.

Anthony takes the glass, downing it in two large gulps. “Can I kiss you?”

Kris’s eyebrows shoot up involuntarily. “You already did that tonight.”

“Yeah, but I want to kiss you for real, Kris,” Anthony says. “I know I’m drunk but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I really like you. I want to kiss you all the time – when I’m drunk, when I’m sober, when I’m watching you hit homers, when you make perfect throws to me from third, all the time. Why don’t you want to believe me?”

“I can’t believe you, because I can’t get my hopes up like that,” Kris admits. 

“Why’s that?” Anthony asks.

“Because I’ve liked you since we first met at spring training last year,” Kris exclaims. “It’s not nice of you to yank my chain like this.”

“I’m not!” Anthony insists. “I only found out tonight that you’re into guys, so how could I have said anything to you before tonight?”

“I guess,” Kris shrugs, a bright blossom of hope starting in his heart.

“So can I kiss you now?”

“Okay,” Kris finally relents, leaning in to meet Anthony halfway. This kiss is nothing like their earlier one, sloppy and for the sake of their teammates. This one is heated yet gentle, and utterly perfect.

“Now do you believe me?” Anthony asks when he finally pulls away, keeping his hand in Kris’s hair. 

“I think so, but you might need to convince me more,” Kris smiles, leaning back in to kiss Anthony again.

“I could get on board with that,” Anthony mumbles against Kris’s lips. 

 

“You know we don’t have to get up at all today,” Anthony says sleepily, wrapping an arm around Kris to keep him from getting out of bed.

“I was going to make you breakfast, but if you don’t want me to…” Kris says, rolling over to kiss Anthony. He pulls away hastily, wiping a hand over his mouth. “Also, you have the worst morning breath ever and I won’t kiss you again unless you brush your teeth.”

“Fine,” Anthony groans exaggeratedly, hauling himself out of bed. Kris laughs at him, making his way into the kitchen to start breakfast. This certainly hadn’t been what he’d expected when their game had been canceled the night before, but he can’t say he has any complaints about it.


End file.
